September 18, 2025 • 10 mins
WWE Superstar Nia Jax talks with Rick Ucchino about Smackdown coming to the Heritage Bank Center October 3rd.
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Podcasts of The Mo Egger Radio Show are a service of Longnecks Sports Grill.
Listen to the show live weekday afternoons 3:00 - 6:00 on ESPN1530.
Listen Live: ESPN1530.com/listen
Get more: https://linktr.ee/MoEgger
Follow on X: @MoEgger
Instagram too: @MoEgger
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome back to ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports station. Rick
Uccino tanging in for Moagger for a segment here, and
those of you who are familiar with my work can
probably guess why I'm here right now. In addition to
my role in the seven hundred w DWD newsroom, I
cover the wonderful world of professional wrestling for the Takedown
on Sports Illustrated and WWWE Friday Nights Mackdown, coming to
(00:23):
the Heritage Bank Center Friday, October third. Tickets for the
show available now. And joining me right now is the
multi time WWWE Women's Champion and former Queen of the
Ring winner Naya Jacks. Nya, It's great to talk to you.
Thank you so much for your time this afternoon.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Hey, thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
I'm glad to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
I'm I'm very excited to chat with you. I'm really
excited for this show, probably more so than any other
I've ever attended, and that includes WrestleMania. And that's no
hyperbole because for the first time, I'm going to be
bringing my daughter to a live event, which is oh
my god. I know this is something that I have
been waiting almost exactly seven years to do and anyone
(01:05):
who has ever been to a live WWE show and
has been around you know, the kids in the audience.
It's honestly almost as fun watching how they react to
everything that's going on around them as it is the
show itself. And WWE really just does a great job
of creating a fun atmosphere for families who are maybe
(01:26):
looking for something to do on a Friday night.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Oh yeah, definitely. I mean it's just funny because obviously
I can hear how much you love it, so you're
like the listener in on this and we share this together,
and that's kind of what happens, right, It's the passion
of the family. And they're like, oh, I hope my
kids enjoy it as well. But you bring them to
a live show, and they always do. They always end
up having a wonderful time and just being intrigued because
(01:51):
you know, that's what we love to do. We love
to put smiles on faces and or you know, get
them doing us, which I tend to enjoy more as well.
But no, it is a great family outits here. So
I'm excited for you and your daughter to go to
the show. I'm excited to see and hear about her reaction.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Yeah, No, I'm really looking forward. Like I remember one
time I was at the show and this little girl
behind me just kept screaming all night for somebody to
kick somebody in the shin, Like that's all she wanted
through the entire night, was like just screaming over and
over kick him in the shin. And I'm just like
dying laughing the entire time. And that's like the one
thing I remember from that show. So it's going to
(02:28):
be really fun to see what she ends up doing.
She's going to be there with her Bailey gear on. Unfortunately,
she might have to learn about the brand split with
unfortunately Bailey being a raw superstar, but she's still going
to be excited regardless. I'm hoping she'll become a fan
of some of the other men and women who are
going to be there that night. Yourself. You are going
to be there now for people who don't know your character.
(02:49):
You are are not well liked amongst wrestling fans, and
that's okay. It's your job and you're very very good
at it. You've probably drawn the ire of a few
youngsters in the audience during your time with the company.
What what's been one of your favorite interactions with a
fan at the show, other than maybe the time you
tough talk Jade Cargill's daughter at ringside.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Oh, I know, that's actually one of my favorites, telling
her her mom sucks. There has been quite a few interactions.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Where you know, the kids will be will be dolling,
and and then I get I get more and more scared,
and then they get quiet, and there run one little
girl and that her grand I don't like you. I'm
here for kissy, you know what.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Listen, that's what we're here for. We're here to give
them the protagonists and antagonists, and I, for one, thrive
in my position of being the bad guy. And so
I do. I do love evoking that emotion from the
kids because I know they enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Jake car Gills obviously someone you've had some some issues
with over the last year or so, really dating back
to her debut at the twenty twenty four Royal Rumble,
She's somebody the Cincinnati crowd's likely going to rally behind,
and not just because she she's married to Red's Great
Brandon Phillips, but you know, her presence is just naturally
commands attention, star power, is the word that gets tossed
(04:11):
around often with her. Her for zeke, her athleticism, her strength.
There's not many women in WWE who can, you know,
go toe to toe in the powerfront with Naya Jackson,
and she's somebody who has done that. You know, how
different is it being in the ring with her compared
to maybe many of the other women that you have
faced in your career.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
It's you know, I enjoy going in the ring with
somebody who has a little bit more power and can
kind of, you know, try to find a match with me.
It makes it more intense, It makes it more a
little bit more challenging for me. So I've been having
some fun with Dave. You know, she's so little that
knew her on the front of wrestling, so it's kind
(04:50):
of cool to get in there with her and see
how far she's come and kind of help and teacher
through it. Definitely an incredible presence and I think this
with more time, she's only going to get better.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Jake Cargo advertised for the show at the Heritage Bank Center.
I would expect Angelo Dawkins, one half of the Street
Profits Fairfield High School graduate, to be there as well,
alongside his tag team partner montes Ford. Athleticism off the
chart with both of those guys, You're no slout yourself, though,
former collegiate basketball player one a Pacific Coast Athletic Conference
(05:20):
championship at Pellamark College. Yes, while also being a professional
model at the same time. But is it also true
that you nearly played football at one point in your life?
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Oh yeah, yeah, oh for sure. I have brothers, and
you know, I was such a tomboy and I always
wanted to, you know, it was so suber competitive that
like if they were doing something, I had to do
it and I had to do it better. But my
mom at the time was just like, I don't know
if it's a good idea, because you know, you're I
was developing, you know, a chess and she was just like,
(05:51):
I don't know if it's a good idea for you
to get in there with the pads, and so we just,
you know, we ventured out. I did started playing.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Volleyball, but I almost played football and sometimes where I.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Was able to tackle the boys pretty pretty clean there,
and I thought like, yeah, why not, why not play?
But my mom was just like, I don't know, let's
try something else.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
So this wasn't one of those situations where you were gonna,
you know, be the kicker. You wanted to to get
in there and hit some people.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Oh no, I wanted to hit them. That was like,
that's that was the fun part for me. The fun
part was a hitting. Like clearly I was, you know,
in soccer. When I played soccer, I was always the
you know, the top yellow card and red card girl
like I would always be. I'd be way more physical,
you know, on the field. And then so it kind
of obviously clearly led to my my career now. So
(06:42):
I think I definitely wanted to be more of a hitter.
My brother was a linebacker, so I was like, oh,
I want to be a linebacker. I want to do
what he does. You know, No, no kicking. I wasn't
that good at kicking.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Yeah. That was me and youth soccer as well as
the bigger kid on the field, like once they moved
me out of goal. Yeah, I always tended to you know,
maybe maybe hit a couple shoulder tackles. I was playing
the wrong sport. I think I was definitely playing.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
The wrong exactly right, you're playing football.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Well, my parents wouldn't let me and then my dad
had the audacity to tell me, like after I graduated
like high school, that I should have been getting drafted
in the NFL. And I'm like, dude, you never even
let me play, but that, you know, that's a whole
that's a whole nother tangent for for another time. Friday
Night SmackDown again coming up Friday, October third here in Cincinnati,
one of the shows leading up to Crown Jewel in Perth, Australia.
(07:32):
I feel like people tend to forget that you're an
Australian native and some of the most dominating stars in
WWE come from the land down under yourself, Rhea, Ripley,
Bronson Reid. Is there something in the water down there
or what?
Speaker 3 (07:46):
You know? I couldn't tell you this, like fight. There's
like a great down there to like you know with
Stanley's kangaroos and like the dry land. You're like, Okay,
I think maybe I can fight my way out of
I think we're just more aggressive down there, Like I
even my cousins that are down there, they're just so aggressive.
Like the rugby players, right, Like have you ever seen
(08:07):
a rugby player? And like watch them? Yeah, Like that's there.
That's how they that's how they have fun. It's just
like no pads going at it. Like I have a
cousin that plays with all blacks and like watching him
play like he would share people to shreds, And I
think that's just a culture. So I think that's what
it is. Like the landown under you know, we just
have a little bit more great, a little bit more
(08:29):
more fight in it.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Well, it definitely translates to the world of professional wrestling,
that is for sure. And this this is a big
week for for WWE. In particular, Saturday night is Wressell Palooza.
It's a historic event for the company as it marks
the beginning of this new five year media partnership with
with ESPN. All main roster premium live events or pay
per views will be streaming on the new ESPN Direct
(08:53):
to consumer app starting this Saturday night. That's obviously a
big deal for a number of reasons. Me personally, I'm
wondering if this new partnership with ESPN will maybe open
some eyes and minds to some of those hold out
sports fans who have traditionally turned their nose at pro wrestling,
maybe help eliminate the stigma surrounding it. But for you,
what's most exciting for you about this latest move by
(09:15):
by WWE to expand its brand. We saw it with
Netflix earlier this year. Now it's ESPN.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Well, I just I really enjoy like recently because I've
been here for ten years, like seeing the experience of
how the experience are coming to And I'm really excited
to see what group of fans we're going to get
because right now I feel like wrestling is at its peak,
Like we're like we're so popular than ever. People are
(09:42):
just loving it, and we're constantly trying to give you
good content, you know, a week after week, and so
I'm just really excited to see how far we can
go because seek with ESPN, there's just another bar we're
setting and and like you know, there's no limit to
where we can go.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Very excited for the future of ww He is always
looking forward to Friday, October third for SmackDown at the
Heritage Bank Center.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
NI.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Always great to talk with you.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
I really appreciate the time absolutely, Thank you so much,
and I hope your daughter has a wonderful time.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
I appreciate that. Thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
There you go, Naya Jacks. Tickets again for SmackDown once
again available now. Moegger returns to his own show next
on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati sports station
Welcome back to ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati Sports station. Rick
Uccino tanging in for Moagger for a segment here, and
those of you who are familiar with my work can
probably guess why I'm here right now. In addition to
my role in the seven hundred w DWD newsroom, I
cover the wonderful world of professional wrestling for the Takedown
on Sports Illustrated and WWWE Friday Nights Mackdown, coming to
(00:23):
the Heritage Bank Center Friday, October third. Tickets for the
show available now. And joining me right now is the
multi time WWWE Women's Champion and former Queen of the
Ring winner Naya Jacks. Nya, It's great to talk to you.
Thank you so much for your time this afternoon.
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Hey, thank you.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
I'm glad to be here.
Speaker 1 (00:42):
I'm I'm very excited to chat with you. I'm really
excited for this show, probably more so than any other
I've ever attended, and that includes WrestleMania. And that's no
hyperbole because for the first time, I'm going to be
bringing my daughter to a live event, which is oh
my god. I know this is something that I have
been waiting almost exactly seven years to do and anyone
(01:05):
who has ever been to a live WWE show and
has been around you know, the kids in the audience.
It's honestly almost as fun watching how they react to
everything that's going on around them as it is the
show itself. And WWE really just does a great job
of creating a fun atmosphere for families who are maybe
(01:26):
looking for something to do on a Friday night.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Oh yeah, definitely. I mean it's just funny because obviously
I can hear how much you love it, so you're
like the listener in on this and we share this together,
and that's kind of what happens, right, It's the passion
of the family. And they're like, oh, I hope my
kids enjoy it as well. But you bring them to
a live show, and they always do. They always end
up having a wonderful time and just being intrigued because
(01:51):
you know, that's what we love to do. We love
to put smiles on faces and or you know, get
them doing us, which I tend to enjoy more as well.
But no, it is a great family outits here. So
I'm excited for you and your daughter to go to
the show. I'm excited to see and hear about her reaction.
Speaker 1 (02:08):
Yeah, No, I'm really looking forward. Like I remember one
time I was at the show and this little girl
behind me just kept screaming all night for somebody to
kick somebody in the shin, Like that's all she wanted
through the entire night, was like just screaming over and
over kick him in the shin. And I'm just like
dying laughing the entire time. And that's like the one
thing I remember from that show. So it's going to
(02:28):
be really fun to see what she ends up doing.
She's going to be there with her Bailey gear on. Unfortunately,
she might have to learn about the brand split with
unfortunately Bailey being a raw superstar, but she's still going
to be excited regardless. I'm hoping she'll become a fan
of some of the other men and women who are
going to be there that night. Yourself. You are going
to be there now for people who don't know your character.
(02:49):
You are are not well liked amongst wrestling fans, and
that's okay. It's your job and you're very very good
at it. You've probably drawn the ire of a few
youngsters in the audience during your time with the company.
What what's been one of your favorite interactions with a
fan at the show, other than maybe the time you
tough talk Jade Cargill's daughter at ringside.
Speaker 3 (03:09):
Oh, I know, that's actually one of my favorites, telling
her her mom sucks. There has been quite a few interactions.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
Where you know, the kids will be will be dolling,
and and then I get I get more and more scared,
and then they get quiet, and there run one little
girl and that her grand I don't like you. I'm
here for kissy, you know what.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Listen, that's what we're here for. We're here to give
them the protagonists and antagonists, and I, for one, thrive
in my position of being the bad guy. And so
I do. I do love evoking that emotion from the
kids because I know they enjoy it.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Jake car Gills obviously someone you've had some some issues
with over the last year or so, really dating back
to her debut at the twenty twenty four Royal Rumble,
She's somebody the Cincinnati crowd's likely going to rally behind,
and not just because she she's married to Red's Great
Brandon Phillips, but you know, her presence is just naturally
commands attention, star power, is the word that gets tossed
(04:11):
around often with her. Her for zeke, her athleticism, her strength.
There's not many women in WWE who can, you know,
go toe to toe in the powerfront with Naya Jackson,
and she's somebody who has done that. You know, how
different is it being in the ring with her compared
to maybe many of the other women that you have
faced in your career.
Speaker 3 (04:29):
It's you know, I enjoy going in the ring with
somebody who has a little bit more power and can
kind of, you know, try to find a match with me.
It makes it more intense, It makes it more a
little bit more challenging for me. So I've been having
some fun with Dave. You know, she's so little that
knew her on the front of wrestling, so it's kind
(04:50):
of cool to get in there with her and see
how far she's come and kind of help and teacher
through it. Definitely an incredible presence and I think this
with more time, she's only going to get better.
Speaker 1 (04:59):
Jake Cargo advertised for the show at the Heritage Bank Center.
I would expect Angelo Dawkins, one half of the Street
Profits Fairfield High School graduate, to be there as well,
alongside his tag team partner montes Ford. Athleticism off the
chart with both of those guys, You're no slout yourself, though,
former collegiate basketball player one a Pacific Coast Athletic Conference
(05:20):
championship at Pellamark College. Yes, while also being a professional
model at the same time. But is it also true
that you nearly played football at one point in your life?
Speaker 3 (05:29):
Oh yeah, yeah, oh for sure. I have brothers, and
you know, I was such a tomboy and I always
wanted to, you know, it was so suber competitive that
like if they were doing something, I had to do
it and I had to do it better. But my
mom at the time was just like, I don't know
if it's a good idea, because you know, you're I
was developing, you know, a chess and she was just like,
(05:51):
I don't know if it's a good idea for you
to get in there with the pads, and so we just,
you know, we ventured out. I did started playing.
Speaker 2 (05:58):
Volleyball, but I almost played football and sometimes where I.
Speaker 3 (06:04):
Was able to tackle the boys pretty pretty clean there,
and I thought like, yeah, why not, why not play?
But my mom was just like, I don't know, let's
try something else.
Speaker 1 (06:13):
So this wasn't one of those situations where you were gonna,
you know, be the kicker. You wanted to to get
in there and hit some people.
Speaker 3 (06:18):
Oh no, I wanted to hit them. That was like,
that's that was the fun part for me. The fun
part was a hitting. Like clearly I was, you know,
in soccer. When I played soccer, I was always the
you know, the top yellow card and red card girl
like I would always be. I'd be way more physical,
you know, on the field. And then so it kind
of obviously clearly led to my my career now. So
(06:42):
I think I definitely wanted to be more of a hitter.
My brother was a linebacker, so I was like, oh,
I want to be a linebacker. I want to do
what he does. You know, No, no kicking. I wasn't
that good at kicking.
Speaker 1 (06:52):
Yeah. That was me and youth soccer as well as
the bigger kid on the field, like once they moved
me out of goal. Yeah, I always tended to you know,
maybe maybe hit a couple shoulder tackles. I was playing
the wrong sport. I think I was definitely playing.
Speaker 3 (07:04):
The wrong exactly right, you're playing football.
Speaker 1 (07:09):
Well, my parents wouldn't let me and then my dad
had the audacity to tell me, like after I graduated
like high school, that I should have been getting drafted
in the NFL. And I'm like, dude, you never even
let me play, but that, you know, that's a whole
that's a whole nother tangent for for another time. Friday
Night SmackDown again coming up Friday, October third here in Cincinnati,
one of the shows leading up to Crown Jewel in Perth, Australia.
(07:32):
I feel like people tend to forget that you're an
Australian native and some of the most dominating stars in
WWE come from the land down under yourself, Rhea, Ripley,
Bronson Reid. Is there something in the water down there
or what?
Speaker 3 (07:46):
You know? I couldn't tell you this, like fight. There's
like a great down there to like you know with
Stanley's kangaroos and like the dry land. You're like, Okay,
I think maybe I can fight my way out of
I think we're just more aggressive down there, Like I
even my cousins that are down there, they're just so aggressive.
Like the rugby players, right, Like have you ever seen
(08:07):
a rugby player? And like watch them? Yeah, Like that's there.
That's how they that's how they have fun. It's just
like no pads going at it. Like I have a
cousin that plays with all blacks and like watching him
play like he would share people to shreds, And I
think that's just a culture. So I think that's what
it is. Like the landown under you know, we just
have a little bit more great, a little bit more
(08:29):
more fight in it.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
Well, it definitely translates to the world of professional wrestling,
that is for sure. And this this is a big
week for for WWE. In particular, Saturday night is Wressell Palooza.
It's a historic event for the company as it marks
the beginning of this new five year media partnership with
with ESPN. All main roster premium live events or pay
per views will be streaming on the new ESPN Direct
(08:53):
to consumer app starting this Saturday night. That's obviously a
big deal for a number of reasons. Me personally, I'm
wondering if this new partnership with ESPN will maybe open
some eyes and minds to some of those hold out
sports fans who have traditionally turned their nose at pro wrestling,
maybe help eliminate the stigma surrounding it. But for you,
what's most exciting for you about this latest move by
(09:15):
by WWE to expand its brand. We saw it with
Netflix earlier this year. Now it's ESPN.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Well, I just I really enjoy like recently because I've
been here for ten years, like seeing the experience of
how the experience are coming to And I'm really excited
to see what group of fans we're going to get
because right now I feel like wrestling is at its peak,
Like we're like we're so popular than ever. People are
(09:42):
just loving it, and we're constantly trying to give you
good content, you know, a week after week, and so
I'm just really excited to see how far we can
go because seek with ESPN, there's just another bar we're
setting and and like you know, there's no limit to
where we can go.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Very excited for the future of ww He is always
looking forward to Friday, October third for SmackDown at the
Heritage Bank Center.
Speaker 3 (10:04):
NI.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Always great to talk with you.
Speaker 3 (10:05):
I really appreciate the time absolutely, Thank you so much,
and I hope your daughter has a wonderful time.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
I appreciate that. Thank you very much.
Speaker 3 (10:11):
Thank you.
Speaker 1 (10:12):
There you go, Naya Jacks. Tickets again for SmackDown once
again available now. Moegger returns to his own show next
on ESPN fifteen thirty Cincinnati sports station
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